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MONITORING YOUR
INTENSITY
When you are doing cardiovascular workouts, it is important
that you work at the appropriate intensities when you are first
starting out. It is also important that you work out at a variety of
intensities after you have built a fitness base. Research in recent
years has indicated that one of the best ways to monitor your
cardiovascular intensity is to pay close attention to how you are
feeling when you work out. Most individuals can do a very good
job of choosing the correct intensities if they simply categorize
how they feel into one of four intensity “zones.”
These zones could be described the following ways:
Zone Description
When you are first starting out, you should exclusively work in the Zone 1 and Zone 2 intensities. After a few weeks,
you can occasionally incorporate Zone 3 and Zone 4 intensities for short periods of time. Remember, when you
begin to incorporate Zone 3 and Zone 4 intensities, you will find that you will likely have to drop down to Zone 1
intensities shortly thereafter as brief recovery periods.
For variety, you can spend a little bit of time in each of the four Zones during one workout, and then spend your time
in just one Zone during the next workout. Prenatal woman should always remain at Zone 1 and Zone 2 intensities,
and anyone unaware of their current medical condition should also avoid Zone 3 and Zone 4 without prior clearance
from their doctor.
Zone Description
1
Easy
Warm up
Cool down
2
Challenging, but comfortable
Steady endurance pace
3
Challenging and slightly
uncomfortable
Race pace
Borderline out of breath
4
Breathless
Not maximum, but winded
Can’t keep the pace for very long
Owner’s Manual
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Owner’s Manual
43